Power Supplies for c7000 chassis rules.

Daniel had a c7000 power supply question:

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Ordered a new HP chassis, as part of this order, we ordered some additional power supplies and fans for an existing chassis. For some reason, we are getting an error message about the new power supplies.

The chassis OA is complaining the power supplies are not matching. In the OA, Is says that mixing different power supply models is not supported and that all power supplies in an enclosure must be the same part number.

The previous power supplies areModel: HP 2400W HE PSU

The new power supplies areModel: 2400W 80 Plus Platinum

According to Quick Specs >> NOTE: Mixing of power supplies in the same enclosure is Not SUPPORTED. All power supplies must be of the same type. All HP 2400W HE, all HP2250W or all -48V DC.

These are both 2400W HE – shouldn’t it be supported? Why does it have to be the same part number?

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From Kurt:

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We have two different versions of the 2400 watt power supply – the 92% efficient HE PSU (introduced in March 2009), and the 94% efficient 80 Plus Platinum PSU (introduced in June 2010, CTO only). Each of the different power supplies we have in the c7000 has a different architecture, and therefore, their methods of current sharing are not compatible. When supplies are mixed, the supplies could be providing unequal amount of power into the system, which could stress the ones providing the majority of current. Also, the OA will not be able to calculate the power output of each supply properly, so the power reporting will be incorrect. This is why all the supplies must be of the same type inside a chassis.

Re: Power Supplies for c7000 chassis rules.

I have a follow-on question to this. I have several older c7000 enclosures, and have ordered the 94% efficient power supplies. When I tried to swap the new supplies in, I get that same error regarding matching part numbers.

I have sufficient 94% supplies to replace all supplies in the enclosures. Can I just swap them in, or do I need to bring a side (or worse, the entire enclosure) down? I don't want to introduce downtime while trying to gain efficiency!

Re: Power Supplies for c7000 chassis rules.

I realize this is an old thread, but just to help future users who face similar issues, the answer to the follow-up question from Randy is: Yes, you can just replace them one by one (assuming that you have correct redundancy configured in the enclosure of course).

If you have 6 PSUs and replace 2 of them with a new type, those two new PSUs will be marked as incompatible by the enclosure OA. But when you replace the third PSU, the enclosure will then mark the 3 OLD PSUs as being incompatible.

I found that pretty neat myself to be honest :) - The enclosure obviously prefers the higher rated PSUs, so kudos to you for that one, HP ;)